Reactions to the Go4It announcement
12:20, Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Cancelling a radio programme at Radio 4 is rarely easy to do. Cancelling a radio programme that's the last one on Radio 4 aimed at a particular audience was never going to gain universal approval - or anything like it.
Last week's announcement that Go4It will come off the air in May met with the kind of dismay and indignation that change at Radio 4 can prompt.
Gillian Reynolds, one of speech radio's most prominent voices in the public prints, was very disapproving. She doesn't hold back:
Mark Damazer, Radio 4's Controller, says he is sad to be the executioner of Go4it, the last remnant of public-service broadcasting for children on analogue radio. He should be ashamed.
Reynolds develops the idea that the Ö÷²¥´óÐã "...has an obligation to provide considered speech, serious narrative and structured content for children." But like other commentators, she thinks kids' media is too noisy: "They shout, they pout, they're matey, inducements to switch-off for listeners of any age."
In she connects the announcement with the week's other big story:
Twenty-two thousand young listeners will have to get used to losing Go4it. Perhaps if it had once employed Jade Goody as guest presenter it might have been more in tune with Ö÷²¥´óÐã editorial policy.
She finishes with a message that's even tougher than her first:
It makes me wonder who is running Ö÷²¥´óÐã radio nowadays and if, in their hearts, they understand it, value it. If they don't realise how important it is to learn to listen, then radio is done for.
The quotes from Mark Damazer's blog entry. The twist here is an exclusive quote from , children's TV celebrity and now campaigner for better kids' TV:
Children's radio has been neglected by the Ö÷²¥´óÐã. In the 1990s, programmes and series were moved round from network to network. Go4it was the last show of its kind but children never came to it because it was hidden away among reams of adult output.
Catherine Bennett, , is, if anything, tougher than Reynolds. She uses all of her 1200 words - on the paper's web site - to get a lot off her chest about children's broadcasting in Britain. It's old-fashioned public opprobrium:
...if anyone has trained children to believe that entertainment is relentless noise and stupidity it is the Ö÷²¥´óÐã itself.
And there's plenty more where that came from, although I'll spare you because it's mostly about TV (Radio 7's extensive children's output dodges a bullet and isn't mentioned at all).
In The Spectator, Kate Chisholm is more resigned. She on The Today Programme and highlights his prescription for children's radio:'Make more dramas, at least one a week, and involve all the family...' She ends with a wonderfully ambitious goal for the network:
At a single stroke, Radio Four could enhance our endangered family life and develop in children the vital art of listening.
The bloggers, in general, are more understanding of the decision to axe Go4It. , who edits a computer magazine by day, :
Go4It always felt like one of those programmes that was only on because it was the Ö÷²¥´óÐã and the Ö÷²¥´óÐã has to do minority things, so its disappearance from the schedules as of the end of spring won't be a great surprise. But just because 'it's the Ö÷²¥´óÐã' surely isn't sufficient justification for putting a programme like Go4It onto a mainstream network like Radio 4 when none of the intended audience is listening.
And Olly Benson, who blogs about young people and education, :
Why not do a show about children and young people's issues, even if it isn't aimed at them? And, why not use young people to make the show? There are thousands of young people involved in media projects throughout the country ... and there are some really brilliant audio projects that deserve a wider audience.
As ever, at Radio 4, the programmes are important.
- You can listen to the item from Today .
Comment number 1.
At 27th Mar 2009, kleines c wrote:I hope that you keep looking for imaginative ways to reach out to children, Steve, even if they never listen to Radio 4.
I suppose that there is a tribal thing here, and it may reflect the segmentation of society. Radio 4 is not for young people.
That's a shame!
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Comment number 2.
At 27th Mar 2009, Russ wrote:I think the Ö÷²¥´óÐã should consider doing a pre-teen soap. Not for broadcast on Radio 4 - I think that's probably the wrong 'platform', and perceived to be uncool. Indeed, why align it with any current radio channel. Do it as a standalone podcast.
Russ
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Comment number 3.
At 28th Mar 2009, lordBeddGelert wrote:I love Gillian Reynolds, but for heaven's sake, what would she do ?
The fact is that it is difficult to get enough people under 35 to listen to Radio 4, so maybe she has to understand that this is not the ideal medium for the Ö÷²¥´óÐã to reach out to children.
And there is no point producing what Gillian Reynolds thinks children will like, or ought to be listening to - they have too many choices of their own to be forced to eat broccoli.
But if you can market 'spinach' as part of an exciting 'curry with sag bhaji' and have it delivered to the door [podcast or straight off a website] then you might have a chance.
'The Wisdom of Crowds' applies to the young as well - and whilst you might not like it, it is difficult to ignore.
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Comment number 4.
At 5th Apr 2009, ann164 wrote:Why not ask the children what they would like to hear and when?
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Comment number 5.
At 8th Apr 2009, littleidontcare wrote:What is it about politicians that makes me feel dirty. I was in the forces for 15 years, I was PV. Positively vetted. This was going to rabbit on a bit, but I can't be bothered. And you know why? Because these cheats, liars and disreputables, are voted for by US!!!!!
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Comment number 6.
At 9th Apr 2009, littleidontcare wrote:It really dosn't matter what anyone thinks, much like politicians or civil servants, they'll do it anyway.
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